BCVFD Seeks Help With Mardi Gras Activities

The Broad Channel Mardi Gras has become a yearly tradition in the island community and, for most of the last 75 years, the event has been the highlight of the Memorial Day weekend.

Traditionally, the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department (BCVFD) and the Broad Channel Athletic Club (BCAC) have taken turns in running the event and in using it as a major fundraiser.

Last year, however, the BCAC decided not to run a Mardi Gras for the first time in many years, citing lack of in terest and volunteers for its decision.

This year it is the BCVFD’s turn and the organization is appealing to both the Broad Channel and Rockaway communities for assistance.

"The Labor Day Weekend is usually the biggest weekend of the year, with fun and activities for all ages, ending with a big parade on Labor Day Mon day to finalize the summer," says Edward O’Hare, the organization’s president. "What we need is your help and support to bring back the Mardi Gras the way it was in the past.

In the past, O’Hare says, the focus of the event was the two bars in town, which held fundraisers throughout the summer, utilizing such contests as Mayors, King and Queen of Broad Channel, babyface and most popular teenager. Now, however, O’Hare is seeking new ideas that might prove to be fun and to generate revenue for the volies, who are working to build a new firehouse on Cross Bay Boulevard.

"Last summer we did not have a Mardi Gras," O’Hare told The Wave. "If you remember, the summer was very quiet and the Labor Day Week end found Broad Channel like a ghost town. Let’s not have that happen again."

O’Hare urges those who want to volunteer their time or who have an idea to pass along, can do so by contacting the Noel Road firehouse.

"Remember," O’Hare concludes. "No idea is a bad idea, so please get in volved this summer."